lost within

Lost Within

By: John Kazerooni

Once upon a time, in a quiet village, lived a man whose heart was consumed by a single desire: to find God. From youth to old age, he devoted himself to prayer, meditation, and long nights of yearning. Yet no matter how much he searched, the sign he longed for never came. His soul grew restless, and the silence of heaven weighed heavily upon him.

One day, he heard of a sage who was said to hold the answers to every question, living on the far side of the earth. With trembling hope, he left behind his village, his family, his comforts, and his remaining strength. He journeyed over mountains and rivers, through nights of loneliness and days of fatigue, and after many years of wandering, he finally arrived. His hair was now white as snow, and his body bent beneath the weight of time.

The old seeker poured out his heart to the wise man:

“Since my youth, I have searched for God. I have prayed, I have fasted, I have wandered. Yet now, at the edge of death, I stand empty-handed. How and where can I find God?”

The wise man looked at him with quiet compassion and asked,

“Tell me, in all these years, did you ever find yourself?”

The seeker was startled. “No,” he admitted.

“Then how,” said the sage, “can you hope to find the Infinite—who cannot be touched, seen, or measured—when you have not yet discovered the nearest and most intimate presence: your own self?”

This exchange carries a profound truth. Humanity often looks outward for answers to its deepest questions—searching the skies, scriptures, and distant teachers—yet neglects the mirror within. We imagine God, or even our dreams, as far away, hidden in mystery, when perhaps the first step toward the divine—or toward our destiny—lies in the simple recognition of who we are.

The sage’s words remind us that self-discovery is not an act of selfishness, but the very foundation of spiritual life. To know oneself is to uncover the hidden layers of the soul—its fears, its desires, its silence, its light. It is there, in the quiet depths of our own being, that the spark of the divine, and the answers we seek, reveal themselves.

The seeker’s long and weary journey across the earth is a symbol of how many of us wander through life in search of truth. Yet the greatest pilgrimage is not measured in miles but in depth—the descent inward, through illusions, attachments, and borrowed identities. God, truth, or ultimate reality—whatever name one gives—is not far away, but woven into the very fabric of our existence.

Thus, the story serves as both a caution and an invitation. It cautions us not to spend a lifetime seeking outward what can only be found within. And it invites us to turn inward, to listen, and to rediscover ourselves. For in knowing ourselves, we begin to know the presence of God.

Don’t we often spend years chasing what is already beside us?

Don’t we overlook the treasures of the present in the hope of distant promises?

How many of us wander the earth in search of answers, while ignoring the voice that whispers quietly within?

Are we not, in the end, lost within?

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